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Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Hediard tout en Rouge

The Metro lines 1, 12 and 14 all stop at Madeleine. When you reach ground level you can go to Fauchon, Ladurée or Hediard. The design director of Elle Décoration and Elle à Table, Jérôme Dumoulin, said I must not miss Hediardin Paris. He also mentioned Ladurée's exceptional green and planted a seed in my head.

I had visited Fauchon at the Madeleine twice. I'd looked across at Hediard and procrastinated. Fauchon's pink had worn me down. This time I made a B-line for the RED at 21, Place de la Madeleine. Ferdinand Hediard first opened the "Comptoir des Epices et des Colonies" in 1880 selling exotic fruit and vegetables. Now they have a range of 6,000 products and shops on four continents.

The brand colors engulf you the moment you enter this stylish épicerie. Rouge et noir.

AgainAmandine Guisez-Gallienne's book, COLORFUL WORLD is useful when I'm looking for the range of a color - cool/warm, pale/intense, dark/ light. It reminds me of the vast variety within 1 color. And how the rest of the world uses color in meaningful ways.

The Hediard red is almost a true RED, but it leans towards it's warm neighbor orange on the color wheel.Not everything at Hediard comes in red and black packages...

Anita - sorry to break it to you but those are New York cherries standing in for Paris Cerise, but I DO know exactly what you mean. It was cherry season in May & the way they displayed those cherises was incredible! I'll put a photo in Flickr-thanks for reminding me. I'm with you completely that everything is better THERE. I just can't get the rose-colored-glasses off my nose, no matter what people tell me...

Newyorkdely - what a nice thing to say :O When I'm in Paris, my eyes are working 24/7. I never got tired of it, though I did notice after 2 weeks my eyes were looking above street level - less window shopping / more architecture looking. Venice is the same for me...

I love how you have picked out the reds and the blacks in Hédiard... those tea tins have been around for ages. I enjoy your watercolors and how you are able to pick out all the different shades of reds too!It is cherry season in Paris (finally! Summer has arrived!) and we are seeing sweet cherries, sour cherries, yellow cherries. It's a feast for the eyes and the stomach.

I really, really love Hediard! When my husband and I pass one we have to go in to look at everything and eventually walk out with something yummy to nibble on. I'm very sad that the Hediard by our house (Place Monge) recently closed. :(

Paris Letters

♥carol gillott♥

l'Ile Saint Louis, Paris, Ile de France, France

Hi I'm Carol Gillott,
My Mom taught me watercolors at 5. I'm still at it, now tripping over cobblestones, living in a 6th-floor garret on l'Ile Saint-Louis, Paris. Read Parisbreakfast with a hot chocolate and croissant.
I paint Paris breakfasts.